In which an overly analytical knitter uses too many words to describe what she's doing.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Knitting First, Icky Afterward

On KnittingSmokey asked:On a recent Chicago trip I bought some malabrigo for a turtleneck I'm planning. I would love some feedback from somebody (such as yourself!) who has knit a sweater with it. Are you alternating skeins of the yarn every couple of rows? The skeins I bought are sufficiently different that I think I'll get a stripe-y look if I don't. I would love to hear how you're handling this pressing issue of knitting!

I am not alternating balls of yarn in my Malabrigo sweater. When I bought the yarn, I tried to pick hanks that were closest in color, but some color variations still exist. The dominant red color is the same throughout, but ratio of pinkish-red and orangy-red varies from hank to hank. However, the color variations that I saw in the hanks (where the colors are all grouped together) are much less obvious when knit up (and the colors are dispersed).

I did consider alternating balls every two rows to even out the color variations, but when it came time to knit, I decided to live with the color variations. As a result, some parts are pinker and some parts are oranger. However, I don't think it will be terribly obvious to the casual observer because no distinct line exists when a new ball is added. The color variations help camouflage the line.

Also, the hanks of yarn are HUGE--215 yards, I think. That means that you can get a lot of fabric from one hank. I had to add a new ball only once when knitting the largest piece of the sweater (the back). So you wouldn't have to worry about several different shades appearing in any single part of a sweater--it wouldn't appear "striped" at all.

So my advice to you Smokey, is to knit up a swatch half and half with yarn from the two hanks that you think are most different in color. Hand the swatch to a neutral party and ask them what they think. If they can see a color change with no prompting, then perhaps alternating balls will be necessary. If they can't see a color change, knit away with one ball. If you're still nervous about doing this, pair up the hanks by color and use "matching" hanks when knitting any particular piece.

On IckyMonkee, that odd knitter that I know, is celebrating her 2nd blogaversary with an odd contest. A two part-er, no less. One part is not icky but the other part is. But I'm doing the icky part because I don't think Monkee expected me to do it!

Take a picture of some food that you believe is disgusting, barf-o-licious, or flat out nasty but will willingly eat anyway. If it is particularly disgusting, no need to actually show you eating it. I’ll take your word for it that it’s edible.

Corned Beef Hash--raw. Corned beef hash may not be icky to everyone, but it's very icky to me because I hate beef. I won't eat the finest cut of steak. I think steak is icky. But I will, on rare occasions, eat raw corned beef hash because it's something that my father eats and eating it reminds me of him and of home. But it's gross. And raw. (When I bought this can for the photo I decided to read the label to see if it was okay to eat raw. The label didn't say anything about serving it raw. The ingredients say "beef and cooked corned beef." Does that mean that the beef is not cooked? I don't want to know. Do not leave a comment telling me that the beef is raw. Thank you.)

I lurk around here, but I thought I would speak up on this one....although it is icky, it's not raw beef it's cooked. I'm all about a good rib-eye, but cold corned beef hash will NOT happen. Love your work!

I think eating the corned beef hash right out of the jar is the equivalent of eating uncooked hot dogs. Not as it was meant to be consumed, but no more harmful since it's been totally preprocessed. No, I will not answer questions about whether I've ever eaten uncooked hot dogs (except to say that my saying I won't answer questions should not lead anyone to believe that I have done it since I was 8 or 9 years old).

By the way, remember when I told you that when I got back from my trip I was only going to read my favorite blogs and then zero all the rest out on Bloglines and start fresh? Just reminding you of that.

OK I just donated a can of that to a food bank, because I bought two and only used one for a recipe, for a casserole, that's still sitting in my freezer 3, not 4, no make that 5 months later. I cannot bring myself to eat the casserole after seeing the stuff.

I'm not commenting on the hash. Yuck. (Well, I guess that's a comment, huh?)

As for the question about Malabrigo, I did alternate skeins for a sweater body. I used the Paris Night colorway, though, which has a lot more variation than the red. It pooled unattractively if I did not alternate.